Intumescent fire resistive coatings are commonly used on metal components (e.g., structures and systems) to insulate these components from the heat generated in a fire. By insulating metal components, the rate of temperature increase experienced by these components from a fire is substantially reduced. Thus, this insulation imparts additional time for the application of fire suppression and/or cooling to the coated component to reduce the potential for a material failure of the component.
These intumescent fire resistive coatings have been particularly useful on ships, oil platforms and other hydrocarbon storage and processing facilities. Typically, however, to sufficiently insulate metal components against fire, large masses of coating must be applied which significantly increase the weight load on the coated component. This increased weight load imposes structural and economic liabilities. For instance, oil platforms are limited by the total weight load on the platform. A heavy mass of intumescent coating applied to the platform reduces the weight of other structures, equipment and manning that can be safely supported by the platform.
Therefore, a need exists for an intumescent coating that provides suitable fire resistance to coated metal components at a lower weight loading.